Today in the United States, we are not living in a perfect democracy as a lot of people believe. It is unfair that in a large democracy like ours, we are electing our presidential candidates using the electoral college. In this system, each state has a group of electors where the number of electors is based on the population of the state. People of a state are not directly voting for the candidate, but rather are providing their 'electors' the votes to help make their decision. Each elector votes for the candidates their state has voted for but has right to vote against what the people of their state have decided on.
The electoral college is a misleading, outdated, and unfair system for the American people. It should be removed because the
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reasons why the “Founding Fathers” started the electoral college are no longer relevant. It also gives too much power to some states, and more populated states are unproportionally represented. In addition it deters people from voting as they rightfully believe that their vote does not matter. Finally, third party candidates are discouraged from running when the electoral college is in place. Our “Founding Fathers” created the electoral college because they wanted to protect our country from uneducated voters making uninformed decisions.
The former leaders of our country “feared a tyrant could manipulate public opinion and come to power” (HistoryCentral). Instead of having the population directly vote for the president, they included a “buffer between the population and the selection of a President” (HistoryCentral), by having electors, the most educated people in their respective state. These electors could go against the vote of their people and pick against a particular candidate if deemed necessary. This may have been a good idea at the time when our nation was still young, but now this is irrelevant. The literacy rate in America today is extremely high, and most people have access to unbiased information. Thanks to our technology, people get the best, latest, and most trustworthy information. What is the point of keeping the electoral college, if the reasons for founding them no longer …show more content…
exist? Another reason why the electoral college system should be completely disbanded is because some states get too much power. In most elections, there are states called “swing states”, states which can vote for either of the major candidates. Most states, with the exception of Maine and Nebraska, have a winner take all plan where all of the state’s electoral votes are allocated to the candidate who wins the state’s popular vote. Candidates may choose to campaign excessively in these states to have higher odds of winning in them. By winning in just a few of these states, a candidate may win the entire election. Some of these swing states have a higher electoral vote to population ratio. This means that residents in one state may have more power than residents in another state. As an example, “California’s 55 Electoral College votes mean there are 705,454 people per vote while there are only 194,717 people for each of Wyoming’s three electoral votes” (Newsmax). Clearly, one’s vote in a small state like Wyoming has more influence on the election than one vote in California. Proponents of the electoral college may claim that in this system, states with smaller populations are more equally represented, and that all parts of the country get a chance to have a larger say in the government.
The problem with this is that it creates an unproportional balance between the population and influence on the election in each state. Smaller states may have a higher “ratio” of population to influence. Plus, this logic is fundamentally flawed. If these states have smaller populations, then why should they have as equal of a say as a state with a larger population? The states with a larger populations should be more represented because those places are where citizens are affected most by government
decisions. Another argument for getting rid of the electoral college is that it dissuades people from voting. Voters may rightfully believe that their vote doesn’t really matter, and not show up to cast their ballots. The electoral college has “the candidate having the highest common vote in every state acquiring the entire electoral votes” (OccupyTheory). Since the result of the election of is practically already known in some states (ex. California almost always votes for democratic candidates), this may discourage voter turnout in these states. On the other hand, states with much more competition (ex. Ohio and Florida) will have much higher voter turnout, because even though their state’s population is relatively small, their vote may end up tipping the entire balance of the election. Just like the electoral college may discourage voter turnout, it may also dissuade third party candidates from running because they don’t have as much influence on the election. By taking away the popular vote, these third party candidates do not get a chance to receive as many votes and they get less of a chance to have an impact on the election. Third party candidates are necessary to have specialized and opposing viewpoints, which makes voters think about the important issues in the country. Supporters of the electoral college may also assert that the electoral college safeguards against uninformed voters, and may stop a tyrant from coming into power. But this is irrelevant; most people today are educated and can get access to unbiased and trustworthy information. Defenders of our current system will also try to contend that the electoral college will give more power to states in general. But this is the exact opposite of what is right for our country; the country needs to be unified, not divided according to states and geography. It is in the best interest of our country to be more unified on issues. The only way to do this is by having a popular vote system, and not by using the electoral college. In the election of 2000, two candidates (Al Gore and George Bush), were running for the presidency. Although “the popular vote was won by Gore… by 543,816 votes” (ThoughtCo), the electoral college decided that George Bush would instead win the presidency due to his victory in the swing state of Florida. (Bush won by 5 electoral votes). First of all, this proves the point that the electoral college depends on just a few states. Florida had a lot of electoral votes (29), and was won by Bush by only a narrow margin, but other states were won by Gore by larger margins. The entire election depended on the state of Florida, while many votes in other states had little relevance. Secondly, this is not a good system because most Americans supported Al Gore’s presidential bid, while the presidency went to George Bush due to this flawed system. Overall, the electoral college system must be disbanded, in order to ensure fair elections and to rightly say that “every vote counts”. Converting to the popular vote system is the only way our country can truly proclaim that we are a democracy.
The Electoral College is a system where the President is directly elected. This process has been used in many past elections as well as the current 2016 election. This process also helps narrow down the large numbers that were made by the popular votes, into a smaller number that is easier to work with for electing the President. Some states use a system called “winner-takes-all”, which is another system that is connected with the Electoral College. This allows a candidate with the most electoral votes, to get the rest of the votes that the state provides. This has made it very unfair to many people, because the Electoral College has the most advantage for candidates. The Electoral College is a very unfair system that causes any candidate to win easily if he or she has the highest votes, and makes the number of voters
Electoral College is Wrong The Electoral College is the name given to a group of electors who are nominated by political activists and party members within the states. The electoral college really isn't necessary and should be abolished. There are numerous reasons why this is so important. With the Electoral College in effect, third parties don't have a chance to become the president, which isn't fair.
Through these almost 2 and a half centuries since the beginning of the Electoral College there has been a large change in population. Since then, the U.S. has grown from a mere 4 million to a looming number of around 300 million people. It is because of this population increase that the Electoral College has become obsolete and is beginning to fail at its duties. Alexander Hamilton was a Federalist and a supporter of the Electoral College who was quoted as saying “It was also desirable to afford as little opportunity as possible to tumult and disorder/ promise an effectual security against this mischief” (Document #1). The College would have prevented tumult and disorder for
The Electoral College was created by the framers at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. They believe that it wasn’t a good idea for the people to elect the president directly because they did not trust that voters would have enough information to make a good choice. The Electoral College basically chooses who the next president will be since it takes away our freedom to vote. The Electoral College should be abolished because it’s undemocratic, the small states are overrepresented, and it hurts third parties. The United States of America is a democratic country that is characterized by the equality of rights and privileges.
The United States of America is often touted as the guiding beacon of democracy for the entirety of the modern world. In spite of this tremendous responsibility the political system of the United States retains some aspects which upon examination appear to be significantly undemocratic. Perhaps the most perplexing and oft misunderstood of these establishments is the process of electing the president and the institution known as the Electoral College. The puzzle of the Electoral College presents the American people with a unique conundrum as the mark of any true democracy is the citizens’ ability to elect their own ruling officials. Unfortunately, the Electoral College system dilutes this essential capacity by introducing an election by
Voting is at the center of every democratic system. In america, it is the system in which a president is elected into office, and people express their opinion. Many people walk into the voting booth with the thought that every vote counts, and that their vote might be the one that matters above all else. But in reality, America’s voting system is old and flawed in many ways. Electoral College is a commonly used term on the topic of elections but few people actually know how it works.
In America, voting for the President is a privilege and a lie. Many Americans think when they go to the polls in November, they are voting for the President of the United States; but really, they are voting for a group of electors who have pledged to support a nominee for the President. The Founding Fathers were concerned that presidents would always come from a populous state and wondered whether the public would have the knowledge of various candidates necessary to make a wise selection. They did not have access to technology like the internet or smart phones as we do. In most states, as the result of the election, the state awards all its electors to the winning candidate (Belenky 1308). A Presidential a candidate must win 270 Electoral
The American Society grants every citizen of legal age to vote in elections. The Electoral College System provides electoral votes to candidates despite losing popular votes. The Electoral College System is unfair as candidates who do not win popular vote can still win a presidential election. This system is unfair as it grants 538 electors to become the voice of 319 million people.
This process of electing a president is unjust and is not based off of the people’s views. In Document D the chart provided illustrates how some of the electoral votes favor some states over others; for example the twelve states listed and the district of Columbia seem to have a bigger say in the presidential election process than the citizens of Illinois. This itself is unfair because Illinois deserves to have an accurate representation of their votes, the same as other states do. This shows that the Electoral College undercuts the principle of one person, one vote, and therefore violates political equality. “It is not a neutral counting device... it favors some citizens over others, depending solely upon the state in which voters cast their votes for president” (Document D). Political equality means all citizens are equal and it also allows citizens to partake in state affairs, including the right to vote and the right to challenge elections. However the Electoral College violates the principle of this for the fact that it weighs some citizens’ votes more heavily than others (video). Generally it makes no sense for the people to vote if they’re not even counted, and either way it violates their rights.
The Electoral College today is a very complex system of voting and campaigning. When it was first created, the Framers thought the average citizen of their day was not intelligent enough to know who should be leading their country. So they created the Electoral College which was run by people who knew what they were doing. The Electoral College is a body of people who represent each state and they determine the president. The real question is: Has the Electoral College gotten too far out of hand where it needs to go? The answer is yes. The reasons are because any third party candidate running in the election has no chance of winning any electoral votes. Also, it gives too much power to the big states in electoral votes. Finally, it creates problems on majority electoral votes and equality of smaller states is diminished.
The Electoral College was a compromise between those at the Constitutional Convention who wanted the US president elected by popular vote and those who wanted congress to select the president. They believed that having it where each state would get a certain number of votes based on population would keep a manipulative and charming person out of office. They thought it would prevent bribery and corruption along with secret dealings. I don’t think that this is the case and it one of the reason I feel that the Electoral College should be abolished.
The United States is a privileged country with freedoms and opportunities many countries strive to achieve. People come into the United States in hopes to obtain these rights and make a better life for themselves; they strive to achieve “The American Dream.” Citizens are given the chance to vote, speak their mind, and live according to their desires without prejudice. However, the same government that promises hope has flaws that frustrate the American people; the Electoral College is one topic of debate. Many feel this system is a safe way to regulate who leads the country, while others feel that issues should be left to popular vote.
First of all I would like to bring to your attention that many votes don't even get counted if you call the United States a democracy. The way the whole Electoral College thing works is that each state is allowed a certain number of "electors" (the state's number of Representatives plus its Senators), who then vote for the president. The elector's vote based on the state's popular vote. After the state verifies the votes, the candidate that receives the most votes get all of that state's elector's votes. Because the state's constitution awards electoral votes that way, the innumerable individual votes become meaningless. Does that sound fair to you? It doesn't to me.
The Electoral College should be abolished because the United States today is much more populous and very different than when the founders wrote the Constitution more than two centuries ago (Raasch 1)...
I feel that we should keep the Electoral College but modernize it and make some changes for electing our president. The Electoral Congress is an outdated system that doesn’t always ensure that the citizens of the United State’s voices are heard. The reason the College was invented was because our founding fathers acknowledged that the information regarding the candidates did not travel to the different states quickly enough for them to be kept updated on the candidate's platform. So, they picked members of the Electoral College to stay in Washington, where they could easily be updated on the recent news of each candidate. From there, they would vote with the people of their state’s best interest in mind. Now, today it works in a similar but in a modified way. The votes of Americans are given to the College members for each state and they, in turn, vote for president. The biggest problem is that the members do not have to vote based on who the people chose, thus making it seem that the people's votes don’t even matter. That being said, there are also positive points regarding the Electoral College. For example, the College ensures that each state gets a voice and are kept a crucial part of the election process. Now, the issue is finding a compromise for keeping the Electoral College.